Read "Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich Online
Authors: Diemut Majer
Tags: #History, #Europe, #Eastern, #Germany
63.
The decree by the Reich minister for food and agriculture of September 18, 1942 (reproduced in
Verfügungen
, 2:147 ff.), recommends setting special shopping hours for Jews. Long before this, however, in grocery stores in Berlin the shopping hours for Jews were restricted to between 4 and 5
P.M
. (instruction of the president of police, Berlin, of July 4, 1940,
Amtsblatt für den Landespolizeibezirk Berlin
, nos. 202 and 230, quoted in Blau,
Das Ausnahmerecht für die Juden in Deutschland
, 282). In Breslau shopping hours were limited to 11
A.M.
to 1
P.M.
Other towns also practiced such restrictions, and an instruction printed in the
Jüdisches Nachrichtenblatt
of June 26, 1942, orders the times to be strictly adhered to (quoted from Walk,
Als Jude in Breslau
, 46, 74).
64.
Decree dated November 19, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 1649). Until the issue of this decree, needy Jews received benefits according to the general principles of the
Reichsgrundsätze über Voraussetzung, Art und Maß der öffentlichen Fürsorge
(Principles on public welfare), August 1, 1931 (
RGBl.
I 439). The decree excluded Jews from the state welfare system and referred them to Jewish charities (to be financed exclusively by the Jews themselves), which were sponsored by Jewish cultural associations (cf. Law on the Legal Status of Jewish Associations, March 28, 1938 [
RGBl.
I 383]); state welfare was to be available only in cases in which Jewish charities were unable to provide support; the exceptions for the seriously disabled specified in the decree were rescinded in the administrative degree issued by the Reich Ministry of the Interior December 21, 1942 (
MinbliV
[1942]: 2377); from that point on, all Jews were excluded from the state welfare system.
65.
The Jews had to fall back on “Jewish Free Welfare” run by the Reich Association of Jews; this was financed out of donations from the Jewish community and was only provided subject to the means being available (sec. 2, par. 1, subpar. 2, and sec. 12 of the Tenth Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law of July 4, 1939,
RGBl.
I 1097).
66.
RGBl.
I 1270.
67.
For further details, see Brohl, “Polenvermögen im Altreich” (1942).
68.
Decree of the Reich minister of finance, July 18, 1941, quoted in Steffens, “Die rechtliche Vertretung der Juden im Reich,” 10.
69.
RGBl.
I 191.
70.
RGBl.
I 2026; for more details, see Möhring, “Die Behandlung feindlichen Vermögens im Inland” (1940).
Part One. Section 1. Excursus: Tax Law
1.
For more details, see Echterhölter,
Das öffentliche Recht im Nationalsozialismus
(1970), 283 ff.
2.
For a more detailed account, see ibid., 191 ff., with examples.
3.
Cf. Thüringisches Oberverwaltungsgericht (Supreme Administrative Court of Thuringia), judgment of December 19, 1934,
DVerw
(German Administration) (1936): 163.
4.
See, for example, the decision of the Reich Finance Court in
RStBl.
(1943): 263, in which the Catholic Church parishes in Sudetengau were deprived of their status as public law bodies, despite the Reich Concordat of July 20, 1933 (
RGBl.
II 679), which guaranteed Catholic parishes this status (sec. 13). Tax exemption under revenue laws on grounds of public good or non-profit-making activities was withheld for activities that benefited Jews, even in cases where the tax status was no longer subject to revision by the fiscal authorities. It was argued by the court that the principle of equal taxation would make necessary such a corrective measure (Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
[1938]: 476 ff.).
5.
Reich Finance Court, 1936, 950 f.
6.
Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
(1937): 1 ff.
7.
Emergency order of December 8, 1931 (
RGBl.
I [699] 731 ff.).
8.
Cf. Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
(1934): 794 ff. The compatibility of this tax with the principle of equality under the law and the guarantee of freedom of emigration according to art. 112 of the Weimar Reich Constitution was ascertained by the Reich Finance Court in a ruling of December 15, 1932 (
RStBl.
[1933]: 92 ff.).
9.
Uffelmann, “Die Rechtsprechung des Reichsfinanzhofes unter nationalsozialistischem Einfluß in den Jahren 1933–1943” (legal diss., 1943), 103; from a figure of RM 0.1 million in 1932, revenue increased to RM 17.6 million in 1933, reaching RM 81.3 million in 1937.
10.
Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
(1934): 565 f., 590 ff.; (1937): 949.
11.
Ibid.,
RStBl.
(1934): 794.
12.
Ibid., 1225.
13.
RGBl.
I 338, with First Implementing Decree of January 30, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 153), and Second Real Estate Tax Implementing Decree of March 29, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 360).
14.
RStBl.
(1941): 372.
15.
BayVGHE 58, 77 (freedom from house tax for synagogues); Thür. Prussian Administrative Supreme Court,
Jahrbuch der Entscheidungen des Thür. Oberverwaltungsgerichts
, 17, 81.
16.
Reich Finance Court of April 7, 1936,
DVerw
(1936): 291: “According to the National Socialist weltanschauung, an object that only serves the interests of non-Aryan citizens cannot be considered of public benefit in the sense of sec. 9, par. 1, subpar. 7, of the Corporation Tax Law of 1925.” In this sense also see the verdict of the Reich Finance Court of March 18, 1937 (
RStBl.
[1937]: 436).
17.
Reich Finance Court of March 17, 1938,
JW
(1938): 1545 (“The activities of Jewish sports associations cannot be considered of public benefit”); more in Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
(1937): 21; (1938): 393; (1937): 476 (rejection of charitable status for an institute for the preservation, furtherance, and dissemination of the study of Jewry); (1941): 553; and Reich Finance Court decision 50, 273: no tax exemption for Jewish hospitals, despite earlier recognition of their status. Sächs. Prussian Administrative Supreme Court of June 9, 1938,
RVerwBl
(1939): 666; and
Fischers Zeitschrift
76, 240, of June 30, 1938,
JW
(1930): 2504: no tax exemption for a Jewish association that served to foster “Jewish studies and nurture Jewish religious services” on the grounds that the promotion of such purposes does not serve the “community.”
18.
Circular of June 11, 1937,
MinbliV
(1937), no. 27, 1050 (“The same applies to exemption from court costs hitherto granted to Jewish charitable foundations”); similarly, circular from Reich Ministry of Justice of June 1, 1938 (
MinbliV
[1938]: 971).
19.
For further details, see Stolleis,
Gemeinwohlformeln im nationalsozialstischen Recht
(1974), 289, with examples.
20.
RGBl.
I 1936, 961, 977, no. 4; Reich Finance Court of February 10, 1936,
RStBl.
(1937): 21; of March 18, 1937,
RStBl.
(1937): 476.
21.
Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
(1941): 806.
22.
RStBl.
(1933): 590.
23.
Reich Finance Court,
RStBl.
(1941): 881.
24.
Ibid.,
RStBl.
(1939): 258.
25.
Ibid.,
RStBl.
(1937): 501.
26.
Ibid.,
RStBl.
(1941): 774.
27.
Ibid., 168.
28.
Cf. Decree of Reich Ministry of Finance on Special Treatment for Jews in regard to Fiscal Matters, February 10, 1940 (
RStBl.
265), which sets out the basic principles of taxation for Jews.
29.
RGBl.
I 99; sec. 32, par. 3; sec. 27, par. 3, of Second Implementing Order of Income Tax Law of February 6, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 1943); sec. 8, par. 3, subpar. 2, on “pay as you earn” income tax of February 6, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 149); sec. 1, par. 5, First Law on Changes in Citizen Tax Law [
Bürgersteuergesetz:
a Nazi law discriminating against Jews, which was a kind of poll tax—Trans.] of October 31, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 1543); regulations implementing wage tax, March 10, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 449, art. 2, sec. 7, par. 8).
30.
Sec. 21, par. 3, Implementing Regulations to Income Tax Law of March 17, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 503). The regulation is worded as follows: “Because of the extraordinary burden posed by children and other Jewish dependents, no tax reduction is granted.”
31.
Decree of Reich minister of the interior of June 1, 1938 (
MinbliV
971).
32.
Decree of Reich minister of finance of April 17, 1939, quoted in Blau,
Das Ausnahmerecht für die Juden in Deutschland
(1965), no. 232.
33.
Decree of Reich minister of the interior of August 19, 1940 (
RStBl.
786), and August 1941 (
RStBl.
[1941]: 281).
34.
RGBl.
I 338.
35.
MinbliV
(1941): 1788 (also BA R 22/20994), with numerous exemptions for “Poles
capable of Germanization
,” as well as for Poles in “racially mixed” marriages (
völkischen Mischehen
); Jews were liable for social welfare contributions irrespective of their citizenship status; exceptions were Jews in mixed marriages, who were exempt from income tax when the husband was Aryan and from wage tax when the Jewish husband had no income from work as an employee (i.e., not from self-employment).
Part One. Section 1. VIII. Discrimination against “Non-Germans” in Public Life
1.
Sec. 3 of Third Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law of June 14, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 627).
2.
RGBl.
I 627.
3.
Notification from Reich minister of the interior to the governments of the
Länder
, in which the Reich minister of the interior forbade public offices to display stickers with the words “No Jews served here” (ZS, Ordner 103, 120).
4.
MinbliV
(1934), no. 988.
5.
Third Proclamation on Compulsory Identification Cards, July 23, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 922).
6.
Second Implementing Order of August 18, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 1044), on the Law on Changes to Surnames and Forenames of January 5, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 9).
7.
Letter from State Secretary Bang to the head of the Reich Chancellery, March 6, 1933, and letter from head of the Reich Chancellery to Reich minister of the interior, March 9, 1933 (handwritten; not official business), Nuremberg doc., PS-902, quoted in Bracher, Sauer, and Schulz,
Die nationalsozialistische Machtergreifung
(1962), 280 n. 96.
8.
These guidelines (
MinbliV
1345) contained barely 270 exclusively Hebraic forenames (reproduced in Blau,
Das Ausnahmerecht für die Juden in Deutschland
[1965], no. 174, 50 f.).
9.
Prussian Supreme Court, Berlin, decision of November 18, 1938, Az. 1 b Wx 180/38,
JW
(1939): 108 f.: “Children of German citizens who belong to a non-German people—unless covered by the special ruling for Jews—may be given forenames in their traditional native tongue, also in cases where there is a German equivalent of the name.”
10.
Decree on Jewish Passports, October 5, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 1342).
11.
Unpublished circular of Reich minister of the interior on the passport status of Jews, November 16, 1937 (Az. Pol. S V/6.2252 [37], quoted in Blau,
Das Ausnahmerecht für die Juden in Deutschland
, no. 135). Passports were issued exclusively for the purpose of emigration, for journeys of benefit to German economic interests, in the event of serious illness or a death in the family, serious illness of the person in question, or visits to children in educational establishments abroad.
12.
Sec. 10 of First Implementing Order of the Law on Air Raid Precautions of May 4, 1937 (
RGBl.
I 559); circular decree of the
Reichsführer
-SS and chief of the German police, October 17, 1938 (
MinbliV
[1938]: 1749).
13.
Third Implementing Order to the Law on the Fire-Fighting Services of October 24, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 2096); a further discrimination was that stipulated in sec. 24 of the Administrative Regulation to the Reich Hunting Law of March 27, 1935 (
RGBl.
I 431), forbidding Jews to hold hunting permits.
14.
RGBl.
I 547.
15.
Jüdisches Nachrichtenblatt
, June 12, 1942, quoted in Blau,
Das Ausnahmerecht für die Juden in Deutschland
, no. 388.
16.
According to secret SD reports, the privileged status of these people had given rise to “dismay and anger,” there being no justification in the framework of racial policy and its being an “intolerable” instance of legalized
Rassenschande [racial defilement
, the term used for sexual relations between a German and an “alien,” i.e., a non-German—Trans.]. There was an expectation that these privileges should be removed (quoted in Boberach,
Meldungen aus dem Reich
[1965], 228 ff.); the supposed public reaction was more probably a reflection of the view of the Party and the police, who used “public opinion” as a pretext.